When You're Home
by FlareForTheDramatic
Summary: What happens when the boy soprano returns home from his first year of college? Secrets? Romance? More?
1. Breathe

**I'm a big fan of two things: Puck/Kurt and the musical, In The Heights. So, I thought it would be cute to sort of take Puck and Kurt and base them in a situation similar to that of the characters of Nina and Benny from In The Heights. We'll see how this works out, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Reviews and love are always appreciated.**

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The bright lights of the city faded to black as Kurt Hummel snuggled up to his less than first class airplane seat. Each bump of the plane made the one time boy soprano's stomach turn whilst he slept. "Six hour flights will be the death of me, and this altitude will do nothing for my skin." Kurt thought to himself, having been awoken for the millionth time.

After awhile, Kurt's mind settled and he slowly fell asleep. Before his closed eyes, Kurt's mind flashed images from the past year, and what a year it had been. Being accepted to New York University for vocal performance, Kurt was one of the few who made it out of Lima, truly a harder feat than it seemed. However, life in the big city had been quite different than that of the small town who shared its name with a green bean. Kurt's mind recalled when his biggest problem was whether or not Rachel Berry's outfit was to be described as "atrocious" or "hideous".

"Folks, we are about to decent for landing." the pilot's cheery voice said as Kurt broke from his trip down memory lane, awoken to reality. "Home" Kurt said softly, glancing outside at the growing image of Ohio beneath him.

Here in Ohio, there were no pressures to be perfect, no need to explain things to people, they simply took it as truth. Thus, lying to them would be very easy.

As the plane came to a complete stop, Kurt glanced out the window, where not an ounce of city smog could be seen for miles. "I never thought I'd be happier to be back in Ohio." Kurt thought to himself as he slowly made his way down the tiny aisle, and off the large plane. Kurt easily found his two pieces of luggage, because they were the finest pieces in the latest collection of luggage by a new designer.

As he grasped his two large bags, Kurt turned and made his way down the long corridor toward Arrivals. The moment he got out of the long tube, he heard their squeals. "Kurt! Kurt!" squealed two very warmly familiar voices. "Dad, Carole!" Kurt said dropping his bags, running toward the very excited forms known as his father and his stepmother. "Oh god, you have no idea how happy I am to see you two." Kurt said hugging them tightly.

"Same here, buddy." Burt said feeling tears begin to fall down his face at the sight of his son. This year apart had been the longest time apart the Hummel men had ever been through, which made this reunion all that much sweeter. "You look so good, Kurt." Carole said gently pushing a strand of Kurt's hair back into place. "Yes, you know the whole "bags under the eye" look is so in right now." Kurt said, knowing that despite his constant eye creams and night masks, he still looked exhausted.

"Where's Finn?" Kurt asked wondering where his stepbrother was, since he had assumed the entire Hudson-Hummel clan would be there awaiting his arrival. "He's back at the house with Noah." Carole said with a soft smile, as she took in Kurt's form for a moment. "Both of them are anxious to see you, especially Noah." Carole said unsure of when Noah Puckerman had become friends with her stepson.

"Puck is excited... to see me?" Kurt scoffed, wondering if perhaps Carole had gotten the ideas of "excited" and "annoyed" confused. "What has Puck been doing all this time?" Kurt blurted out, sort of half wondering what had become of his onetime tormentor and glee club teammate. "He actually works for me." Burt said quickly, before realizing they should really get moving. "C'mon, we've got to get you home. So many people will be coming by to see you." Burt said grabbing one of Kurt's bags, tugging it along toward the exit.

Carole smiled as she followed Burt, leaving Kurt with his one bag and his thoughts. Kurt glanced back out the window at the plane he had arrived on, half wishing he could just dash back on and not face the music. However, Kurt knew this was impossible.

"Just breathe." Kurt instructed to himself, as he grasped his bag and followed his father and stepmother toward the car.


	2. Streetlight Chillin In The Heat

**Author's Notes: **

_SERIOUSLY. **You guys rock, hardcore.** I woke up to 35 emails in my inbox, most of which were emails about people following the story, adding it to their favorites, or reviewing. Thank you for supporting something that started out as a drabble on a long subway ride home from a performance of In The Heights. I hope to do you all proud. _

_I hope you enjoy this chapter, which is much longer than the previous one. _

_Reviews and love are always appreciated. _

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Finn had been trying hard to make sure the house looked perfect for when Kurt arrived, because his mother had made it quite apparent she wanted to see all the decorations up and the house looking perfect for when they arrived with Kurt from the airport.

"Dude, stop wrapping me in those damn streamers! It was only funny the first time." Finn said glaring at Puck, who had once again wrapped him up in a large amount of pink and green streamers. "Those are supposed to go across the door in some kind of criss-cross form, whatever that means." Finn said pointing to entry way to the dining room.

Puck rolled his eyes and unwrapped Finn from his streamer cocoon before making his way over to the entry way to begin putting the streamers up. Noah Puckerman had once been the biggest stud in Lima, Ohio, considering how very few badass boys originated from the small town. However, since graduating from McKinley near one year ago, Puck had found that being the town badass didn't really move with him as he graduated from high school.

Despite how lucrative his pool cleaning business had once been, Puck realized he needed something more stable when it came to an occupation, so he began to search for other things he could put his badass skills to good use doing. Around that time, Burt Hummel, the father of the lady fabulous Kurt Hummel, was looking for some new help in his shop. Puck knew cars pretty well and being a mechanic would be badass enough to keep his badassness in check, plus it wouldn't hurt his guns either. Initially, Burt seemed a bit apprehensive to hire his son's former tormentor to work in his shop, but Burt saw a bit of himself in Puck, so he decided to give the boy a shot.

After working the shop for five months, Puck had been a huge help for Burt, getting to every ounce of work he placed before him with lightening speed. Puck enjoyed working at Burt's shop, because it gave him an accomplished feeling, like he wasn't just this big fish in the small pond, he actually could do something and feel good about himself. Kind of how he use to feel when he'd give some loser a slushie facial, only better.

Most of the people Puck knew from high school had move to various parts of Ohio to begin school somewhere in the state, with only a handful of them sticking with school and not returning to work low income jobs around Lima. Puck only knew of two people who had made it out of Ohio without the stigma of being a Lima Loser, those two people being Rachel Berry, who went off to some fancy conservatory school in Boston and his boss's son, Kurt, who had gone off to New York.

Puck had to admit, he envied the two of them getting out of Ohio, but really despite how small town it might have seemed, Puck liked being where he was.

"Dude, are you doing anything over there?" Finn said noticing how Puck had been standing there not really moving for awhile. "They are going to be home like any minute." Finn said grabbing the streamers from Puck and pinning them to the front of the dining room in the way his mother had showed him, which only took an hour for Finn to understand.

Puck smiled at Finn, who had run off toward the kitchen to check on the food for the small party that was going to happen to welcome Kurt home after being away.

Working with Burt had given Puck a whole new outlook on his onetime torture victim/Glee Club teammate, for it went to prove that despite being lady fabulous, Kurt knew his way around Burt's shop and was actually a lot cooler than Puck had given him credit for being.

"We're home!" called the cheerful voice of Carole Hummel, breaking Puck's thoughts of how he found Kurt Hummel to be cooler than before. Puck turned to see the front door open as Carole and Burt came inside first, followed by Kurt, who was lugging his big bag into the house weakly.

"Let me get that!" Puck said coming to Kurt's rescue in a sense, by grasping the bag firmly from Kurt's grip to lighten the boy's load.

"Thanks, Noah." Kurt said with a half smile, surprised to see Noah 'Puck' Puckerman so eager to help someone, especially him. Maybe a year had done wonders on his former tormentor.

Puck smiled and nodded, giving Kurt a quick glance over as he pulled the bag in from the front door to the living room. Kurt looked well, which didn't hurt that he had sort of grown into himself during junior year, looking less like an eleven year old milkmaid and more boy-ish.

Puck had to admit, Kurt looked good, very good, actually. Puck shook his head, trying to rid himself of such a weird thought. Kurt looked like Kurt, only he looked sort of tired. Nothing beyond the realm of normal for him, which is what, confused Puck the most. Why did he suddenly find himself thinking Kurt Hummel looked good?

"We better get a move on." Kurt said noticing how Puck had sort of stopped moving and was kind of giving him a weird, uncomfortable glance up and down. "My dad and Carole want to make sure when everyone arrives for this party, everything is perfect." Kurt said knowing deep down that he didn't deserve such a welcome, because he had done nothing to earn it.

"Yeah, you're right, Kurt." Puck said moving the bag completely out of the way before turning to face Kurt once more. Kurt's head titled ever so slightly, glancing at Puck with a weird sort of smile. "What?" Puck said laughing to himself at the ridiculous look on Kurt's face. "I'm still not use to you calling me Kurt." Kurt said having been known as "Hummel" or "Gay Kid" by Puck for almost their entire high school lives.

"Well, things change, Hummel." Puck said with a chuckle as he made his way out of the living room, heading toward the kitchen. Kurt shook his head, beginning to retract his previous thought: Somethings truly never change.


	3. Welcome Home

**From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and every one of you guys who has read, favorited, or reviewed this story. You guys _seriously_ rock my socks. **

**This chapter is the longest one so far, and it is setting up some big things about to go down, especially with _a certain_ soon to be budding romance. **

**Enjoy. **

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Within the hour, the Hummel-Hudson household was filled with people all waiting to see the return of Kurt Hummel to their little corner of the world. Kurt stood looking in the mirror as he gently fixed his tie and vest, trying to look as presentable as possible for the growing crowd upstairs, but deep down, all of this was not worthy to be spent on him.

Kurt knew deep down what had happened in New York, but no one here knew a thing about it, and he had tried to talk his dad and Carole out of making a big deal about his return home, but they didn't listen to him. Kurt sighed as he grasped a brush from his vanity and began to comb his hair when he heard someone coming down the steps behind him.

In the corner of the mirror, Kurt saw Finn making his way to his side of the room. "Hey." Kurt said softly, having not seen Finn much since he had arrived about three hours ago. Finn turned to see Kurt, and a smile formed on the former quarterback's lips as he walked over and gently hugged his stepbrother.

"Welcome home." Finn said softly as he pulled back to take in the form of his stepbrother. "Thanks." Kurt said softly, hugging his rather tall and awkward stepbrother back with a gentle, but firm grip. "It seems like forever since I left, I see you've done nothing with the place." Kurt said noticing how pretty much everything was as it had been before he left.

Finn looked around and then shrugged his shoulders in his normal "I don't really know what's going on, I'll just pretend I do" sort of way. "Something's really do never change." Kurt said laughing to himself knowing exactly what that shoulder shrug meant, giving him the first genuine smile and laugh of the trip.

"You know like everyone is up there waiting to see you, right?" Finn said grabbing his tie from his bed as he tried desperately to not choke himself with it as he attempted to put it on. "Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, like everyone is here." Finn said glaring at the tie with an intense glare, before Kurt chuckled and made his way over to assist him noticing the former quarterback's frustration.

"Yeah, I know they are." Kurt said slowly wrapping the tie around Finn's neck and beginning the process of tying Finn's tie for him. Deep down, Kurt wanted to tell Finn why he felt like such a fraud and why he felt this whole party was a waste, but he wasn't sure now was the right time to tell him, plus he wasn't sure Finn would understand.

"There you go, all done." Kurt said pointing toward the mirror, showing off Finn's perfectly tied tie. "Thanks, man." Finn said smiling as he turned from the mirror to face Kurt. "It's good to have you home." Finn said patting Kurt on the shoulder, before turning to head upstairs toward the party.

Kurt watched Finn slowly make his way upstairs, wishing he had revealed to Finn what he had been concealing from everyone, but he didn't. Kurt looked into the mirror, feeling his entire stomach in knots, knowing once everything came out, the celebration would be short lived.

Kurt sighed as he pulled himself away from his reflection, almost sickened by himself. "Hey guys, it's me, the biggest disappointment you know..." Kurt said softly to himself as he made his way up the steps toward the party.

Puck glanced around the room, noticing more and more familiar faces filling the room, giving him many memories to dwell on. He spotted Santana and Brittany both chatting away and enjoying some punch, while Mercedes and Tina both caught up by the kitchen, snacking on some of the finger foods.

Having almost all the Glee Club kids together (with the exception of Rachel, who had apparently landed some super exclusive pre-Broadway gig in Boston) kind of warmed the heart of the former Glee badass. He hadn't seen half these people in almost a year, because they had all sort of lost touch since their last performance as a team, which had garnered them a first place win at Nationals, much to their joy.

Puck glanced around the room wondering where the guest of honor himself was, considering all this was being held for Kurt, yet he seemed to missing in action.

Finally, almost as if Puck's wondering had somehow conjured him to appear, Kurt appeared at the door from the basement, causing much commotion as the ladies from Glee Club all surrounded him giving him a warm and very anxious welcome.

"There's the boy of the hour." Burt's voice boomed as he motioned Carole in with a cake that had written in big large purple icing: "Welcome home, Kurt."

Kurt looked down at the cake as the group of girls moved to allow him to see the cake, which only made the knots in his stomach turn harder. "I-I don't know what to say..." Kurt said looking from the cake to the faces of all the happy and excited people around him, each one causing the knots in his stomach to wind tighter and tighter.

"I-I don't deserve this!" Kurt exclaimed, finally feeling the anguish of the way too tightly wound knots in his stomach. "I don't deserve any of this. I'm not a hero, I'm a loser." Kurt began to finally come part, feeling all the feelings he had been suppressing for months bubbling up on the surface.

"Kurt, what are you talking about?" Burt said moving closer to his son, as Carole placed the cake on the table, also turning her attention to Kurt. "You're not a loser, honey." Carole said gently stroking the top of Kurt's head with her hand.

"You don't understand." Kurt said, feeling his eyes well with tears, sick of trying to hide everything and feel like some kind of fraud. "I-I dropped out..." Kurt muttered softly, tears now completely falling from his face.

Burt and Carole's faces suddenly went white as Kurt's words reached their ears. "…What?" Burt said slightly raising his voice as he looked at his now sobbing mess of a son.

Kurt couldn't face them, he had to get away. Kurt turned and ran for door, swinging it open and running out into the hot and sweat-inducing summer night.

All the guests of the party were too shocked and confused to move for the news of Kurt Hummel dropping out of school had taken them all by surprise.

"Well, that's a cheery piece of news." Santana said turning to look at Tina, Brittany, and Mercedes.

"What the hell happened?" Mercedes muttered as she turned to see Burt and Carole in an intense discussion.

"I bet it was the ducks." Brittany said with a look of "I have figured it out", exactly the opposite of what she had done.

Tina, Mercedes, and Santana all glanced at Brittany and shook their hands in second hand embarrassment.

"I don't know, but whatever happened, it's going to be some serious business when it all comes out." Mercedes said noticing someone go running out the front door after Kurt, someone with a dark strip of a mohawk on his head.


End file.
